Learning to LOVE the thrift store!

Well... I headed over to a few of the local thrift stores since my closet is practically bare. At the beginning of the year I was a size 30/32... my current (but now baggy) jeans are a size 24. I found a size 20 jeans from Lane Bryant on the racks and thought, "Well, let's see how long before I fit into them."

Cha-Ching!! They! FIT! Booyah!! Best $4.00 I've spent all week long!

I could have wrote this post! I'm really relying on thrift stores as I transition through sizes. I'm in an 18 now, headed towards 16. Be careful, sizing can be sooo inconsistent. I picked up some stuff today. 3 pants:an old Navy dress pant in size 20. While I wear an 18 in anything i buy from old navy, I'm always bigger in any thrift store ON finds. 2nd pair fit perfectly. 3rd pair I swear must be a juniors size, they won't fit for a good while!

Congrats on your weight loss, and your new, smaller threads!

Awesome job!

i LOVE thrifting!!!

i also recommend swap.com The prices are awesome and they ship quick!!

I have no patience for searching thrift stores. My closet and drawers are pretty bare, but I don't want to buy too much since I'm still shrinking. So I buy just what I need to get by. I am making due with one pair of Dockers, one pair of jeans, 1 button down shirt, one pair of shorts, and a few pocket t-shirts.

I'm a full time grad student so I can be a minimalist.

~snerk~

Dear Matthew... my dear, dear Matthew.... it's not that you are a grad student... it's that you are a GUY! lol!

My father is the same way about clothes; only his pants of choice are sweats. It's a miracle if we can get him to wear anything else.

"No patience for searching thrift stores" describes me to the T. Also, I am pretty cheap so I buy enough exercise and work clothes just to get me by. I agree with being a minimalist.

BUT, today we went to a thrift shop to look for costume supplies for my kiddo. I found the women's clothing to be super organized and easy to browse. The clothes seemed to be in good shape and didn't smell or anything. (You can tell I had a fair amount of bias walking in. I am not proud of that.)

I walked out with 2 pairs of brand name jeans (one was Ralph Lauren) for 9 dollars total. Best 9 bucks I have ever spent even if they are too big (fingers crossed) in several weeks.

Thrift stores are the greatest. Just picked up some new pants that I now need to hem. Need warmer clothes as it is cooling down. I think my husband is going to give me a gift card for new clothes for Christmas by then maybe I will have some idea of my final size.

I love this. I'm still pre-op but getting close. A week away tomorrow! I work in a professional office and must often go to court. I also have to wear a ballistic vest for my job and it's issued by the employer... and that's a whole other story... but I need to figure out how I'm going to keep myself appropriately clothed 5 days a week. How long do you tend to stay in one size before dropping to the next? Should I plan to go shopping once a month or once a quarter or ... my brain just can't seem to get wrapped around losing weight faster than I actually gained it.

We have a fairly good Good Will not far from my house (about 40 minutes) and a couple of other thrifts within 30 minutes with limited clothing selections. Or should I just go for the cheapest stuff I can find on line?

For the first 20 pounds, my old clothes just fit better. After that, I was able to take the pants and skirts in (I just sew up the side or back seam to fit - takes about 10 min). Buy stretchy tops or ask for hand me downs from people in your Support Group. It took awhile until I could tell what would fit me by just looking at it, so the new clothes I got on-line were a waste - by the time they arrived they were too big or just the wrong proportion. People post about loving Goodwill, that is probably a better option where you can get a better idea of how things will actually fit. A friend of mine works in a doctors office and just bought 2 pairs of black yoga pants that shrunk with her and 1-2 scrub tops. I was a HS teacher and had to dress more professionally, so I tried to make my old clothes shrink as long as possible.

My surgery was in April, I wasn't in a smaller size till July, everything had just fit better. The trend I'm seeing now is that I'm moving down sizes every month and a half.

My rule is that I can't pay anymore than $20 on any single item. So I'll shop at other places too.... So long as I don't go over my budget.